Ge Kaishan took off his straw hat, revealing a simple and honest smile, which made Li Guang feel somewhat emotional.

On the battlefield, Ge Kaishan was a fierce general with superb martial arts skills. Now, he looks like a farmer, which suggests that a lot has happened around him since he returned to the foreign country.

Li Guang picked up his teacup and gestured for Ge Kaishan to drink. Perhaps he was too thirsty, Ge Kaishan picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp. Li Guang then picked up the teapot and refilled Ge Kaishan's teacup.

"General Ge, you've traveled a long way to Shuixian Village. What brings you here?"

"More than a year has passed since we parted ways at the border. Back then, Marshal Li defeated Kuli Tuo, and Marshal Han found me, gave me some silver, returned my mount and weapons, and let me go back."

I know that the foreign kingdom suffered a major defeat this time, basically losing all its resources. The court and the people are in chaos, and this is probably the most complicated time.

I'm tired of war, so I don't want to go back yet. I'll wait until things calm down in the country before leaving and going home to farm.

Marshal Han agreed to let me stay temporarily, so I stayed in the military camp for three months. As the weather grew colder, I bid farewell to Marshal Han and returned to my homeland.

After returning, I did not go to the capital, Yanjing, but went directly back to my hometown, Moshui.

Moshui is located in the northeast of Yanjing. It has flat terrain and a suitable climate, unlike other areas that are covered in ice and snow in winter.

Due to Moshui's unique geographical climate, it is rich in grain and became the granary of the foreign kingdom. What I did not expect was that the former granary has become a living hell.

My elderly parents live in a small village in Moshui. They usually grow some crops and raise a few sheep. In addition, I send them some money from time to time, so they are basically well-off.

But when they returned, the two elders had already starved to death. Most of the men in the village had been conscripted to the front lines, leaving the village uncultivated and the fields abandoned.

In the village, my family was considered well-off, but even so, my parents starved to death. The situation was even worse for other families.

As Ge Kaishan finished speaking, he picked up his teacup and drank the tea in one gulp. At this moment, it was clear that there were tears in his eyes.

"How could this happen? The two elders starved to death right in the granary. What on earth happened?" Li Guang knew the reason, but he wanted to hear Ge Kaishan explain.

"For many years, the foreign kingdoms have been at war almost every year, which has already depleted their resources. The court had no choice but to increase taxes."

This caused hardship for the common people, as Moshui was the granary of the foreign kingdoms and naturally received special attention from the imperial court.

Therefore, every grain of food produced here was taken away by the imperial court. In addition, the able-bodied men of the foreign countries were all sent to the front lines to fight, so there were not many people left to farm.

Moshui is located in the north, unlike the Central Plains. For example, in the Central Plains, rice can be planted twice a year.

However, in Moshui, rice can only be planted for one season, and the yield is not high. Even so, the rice that farmers work hard to grow is requisitioned as military rations.

In the entire foreign kingdom, only the Moshui area can produce rice, so the imperial court keeps its eyes on this place, causing the people here to suffer even more than those in other places.

Many years ago, I left my parents and enlisted in the army, and since then I have been risking my life on the battlefield.

At the time, I felt that this was the only way to serve my country. Looking back now, I realize how naive I was.

Deep down, I am patriotic. There are many people like me in foreign countries, but those in power use us to invade other countries and exploit their own people.

As a man of honor, I couldn't even protect my own family; my parents starved to death. Why should I remain loyal to such a court?

At this point, Ge Kaishan choked up.

As the saying goes, "A man doesn't easily shed tears, unless he's truly heartbroken."

At this moment, Ge Kaishan must have been truly heartbroken; he was heartbroken for his country.

"After this defeat, the foreign kingdoms have become much more restrained. The authorities believe that the most important thing at present is to restore people's livelihoods."

This may be the most correct thing the court has done in all these years, but I know that it is only temporary.

Once the nation's strength is restored, the ambitions of the rulers of the foreign states will swell, and they will continue to invade other countries. In that case, it will be the common people who suffer.

That winter, the weather was particularly cold, and some people in the village froze and starved to death. Fortunately, Marshal Han gave me some silver, which I used to buy some life-saving food, allowing some villagers to survive.

The following year, which was last year, I started farming. Thanks to some policies implemented by the imperial court that reduced taxes, the lives of ordinary people improved a little, but they were only able to make ends meet.

After more than a year of recuperation, the situation in the country has improved somewhat. However, Moshui is located in the north, and the varieties and techniques for growing crops cannot be compared with those in the Central Plains.

So I had the idea of ​​going to the Central Plains to learn some planting techniques, and at the same time see if there were any crops suitable for planting in the north.

When Marshal Li said that after the war was over, he would go home to farm, I thought I would come to the Central Plains to find Marshal Li and learn some farming techniques.

As a foreigner, it was extremely dangerous to venture into the Central Plains; one could easily be arrested as a spy.

So I went to the border and found Marshal Han, told him my idea, and after understanding the situation, Marshal Han agreed.

Marshal Han sent men to escort me for a while. After passing through several important checkpoints, the escorting soldiers gave me a pass. With this pass, I finally arrived at Narcissus Village and met Marshal Li.

"General Ge, you must be tired from your journey. If you want to learn planting techniques in the Central Plains, this is the place for you. The Central Plains is currently in the spring plowing season, so you can start learning from the beginning of the planting season."

"General Ge, take a day off. Tomorrow I'll take you to the fields to work and learn planting techniques."

Upon hearing this, Ge Kaishan immediately became excited and said:

"That's great, thank you Marshal Li."

Li Guang was very happy about Ge Kaishan's arrival. He had received two items from the Taoist priest last time and knew what he was going to do.

However, he knew nothing about the situation in the foreign country, so he sought help from Marshal Han. So much time had passed, but Marshal Han had not been able to provide any valuable clues.

This time, Ge Kaishan is coming to the Central Plains to learn farming techniques. Marshal Han should realize that this is a good opportunity, and perhaps he can obtain what he needs through Ge Kaishan.

Taking these things into consideration, after confirming that Ge Kaishan was not in any danger, Marshal Han agreed to let him go to the Central Plains. He arranged for someone to escort him for a while and then issued a special pass, which allowed Ge Kaishan to successfully arrive at Shuixian Village.

Just then, someone knocked on the tent door, and then someone pushed the door open and entered.

The two looked up and saw that it was Gu Huai.

Gu Huai was tall and strong, about the same height as Ge Kaishan. The two had fought on the battlefield, where Ge Kaishan was no match for Gu Huai and was captured alive. When they met again, they were like old friends reunited.